The Europe Lecture - Hoofdinhoud

On October 25th 2013, former South African president (1989-1994), Frederik Willem de Klerk delivered the 12th Europe Lecture. Subsequently, professor Karel van Wolferen analysed the political role of the European Union in the world. Former minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Bot was the moderator.

The Europe Lecture is a frequently recurring lecture on the meaning of Europe from a socio-economic, political or cultural perspective and takes place in the Hague.

Contentssopgave van deze pagina:

1.

Photo impression

Photos by Martijn van Dam

2.

Europe in the World

This year's topic of the Europe Lecture was 'Europe in the World'. How do countries or other continents view Europe and the European Union in particular? What is the position of Europe in the world compared to other great trade blocks?

Are we witnessing a shift of economic power blocks? And which political developments between various global powers are significant to the European Union?

Does the European Union play an important political role in world affairs? How do other countries regard this role? What is the contribution by countries outside the EU, like India, Brazil, China and South Africa, to various aspects of the European Union? What will the European Union look like in the future? And what can the EU learn from other countries?

3.

Stimulating the public debate

There is a lot of discussion on the topic 'Europe'. After all, the European Union is more than just a financial-economic cooperation. The Europe Lecture aims to stimulate the public debate on Europe and tries to attract a wide audience interested in current and future developments of the European Union.

In 1993, Jacques Atalli delivered the first Europe Lecture. Since then, various inspiring speakers have established a tradition. Among them the former British minister of Foreign Affairs Lord Peter Carrington, former Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Richard Goldstone, former Irish President Mary Robinson, former NATO-secretary Javier Solana and president of the European Council Herman van Rompuy.

4.

History

The Europe Lecture originated from an initiative called 'de Europalezing' of the University of Higher Education Utrecht and newspaper 'Utrechts nieuwsblad' in 1992 and is now, for the third time since 2009 organized in The Hague. From 2013 the European Lecture is made possible by (financial) support from Municipality of The Hague and the Montesquieu Institute. The Europe Lecture Foundation takes care of the organization.